playing games

Spot On: The 2004 D.I.C.E. Summit - News at GameSpot: At the end of the day, Naughty Dog cofounder Jason Rubin delivered an impassioned plea to developers in which he advocated the need for them to 'get their heads out of the sand' to acknowledge how publishers downplay their irreplaceable contribution to the game-making process. 'We've allowed ourselves to be placed behind a brand,' Rubin said in a fiery presentation. He further said, 'The extent to which developers are disrespected is extreme.' Rubin stopped short of organizing developers into a guild or union on the spot--but not by much. 'If every major developer says, 'we're part of this plan,' then we're united,' he said.
While Rubin led off his presentation with anecdotes about how hard it has been for him and his colleagues to even get invitations to publishers' parties (while dim-witted Hollywood talent is fawned over by game publishers' marketing and PR teams), he was clear that his talk was 'not about parties' but was about what lay below this 'surface' manifestation. 'Games are currently sold like packaged goods. Talent is not respected,' he said. 'If the business doesn't change, talent suffers.' As for who should foment change, Rubin was clear: 'Talent must force the change.'

Jason Rubin to exit Naughty Dog - PlayStation 2 News at GameSpot: Rubin's announcement comes three years after he and Andy Gavin, his business partner for 20 years, sold Naughty Dog to Sony Computer Entertainment America for an undisclosed sum. 'I have absolutely nothing but appreciation for Sony, especially the product development group,' says Rubin. 'They have been an incredibly strong vehicle that has guided Naughty Dog's and my success.' While Rubin's speech took game publishers to task for not valuing talent, he maintains he was not singling out Sony. 'The speech was directed at the industry in general, not one company,' he says. 'But in the future, in order to realize the goals I outlined in my talk, I need to expand my reach outside of Naughty Dog's parameters.'

To follow up on Timmeh's original point, I think the lack of appreciation is not relegated to the gaming industry. I think if Douglas Trumbull or Ridley Scott or any number of real, valid Hollywood movie "players" showed up at the Sony Party, they'd have trouble getting in the front door. Or at least less trouble than Rachel Weisz.

What's more, with the success of The Lord of the Rings movies, I wonder if Hollywood isn't about to be facing the same "outsourcing" trauma that's now facing the tech industries. Make a movie in NZ; make a game in South Korea or the NeuvoLithuania -- I wonder if there is any room for talent grandstanding outside the A-list celebrities.